Tie plate



W. S. BOYCE TIE PLATE Feb. 1o, 1931,

wim. 5 5@ @7% QQ Q QL mw@ j Original Filed Aug. 8, 1923 Reissued' Feb. 10, 1931 Re. v11,960

WILLIAM S. BO'YCE, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS TIE PLATE Original No. 1,776,882, dated Septemher 30, 1930, Serial No. 384,256, filed August 8, 1929. -Application for 'reissue led November 21,

This invention relates to railroad tie plates, and has for its main objects to provide an improved tie plate construction wherein the metal is distributed in a novel manner so as 5 to secure the maximum of strength with the least weight of metal, thereby reducing the cost of the tie plates; to provide improved means for locking the tie plate to a tie so as to prevent shifting of theV tie plate longitudinally of the tie; to provide an arrangement whereby the tie plate readily becomes embedded in the tie and locked against the said longitudinal shifting, as an incident to the passage ofsulccessive train loads over the rail portions supported by the tie plate and, in general, it is the object of my invention to provide an improved tie plate structure.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be understood'by reference to the following specification and acompanying drawing wherein I have illustrated a tie plate embodying a selected form of my invntion, and also several modifications thereo In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the plate shown in Fig` 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation.

Fig. .4 is a Section on the line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are side elevations of end portions of a tie plate embodying certain modifications of my invention.

Referring now to the drawing, my imface 10 on its top face and a iiange 11 projecting upwardly therefrom to provide a rail abutting shoulder 12 adjacent one end of the rail seat 10. As shown, the rail seat 1() ma be part of the entire top surface of the plate at one side of the shoulder 12, the same being preferably inclined or canted slightly.

On the bottom of the tie plate, tie bearing surface is provided, and this may be a flat surface'directly below the rail seat 10, but I prefer to provide a pair of transversely extending relatively narrow primary tie bearing surfaces. These primary bearing surfaces are spaced longitudinally of the plate and located approvimately beneath the edges of proved tie plate includes a rail bearing sur` 1930. Serial No. 497,311. y

the base iianges of a rail seated on said rail seat.

In the present instance, the primary tie bearing surfaces are indicated at 13 and 14, these tie bearing surfaces being provided with depending ribs 15 and 16 which extend transversely of the plate, and, in effect, divide the primary ,bearing surfaces 13 and 14 into two portions, one on each side of each rib. The ribs 15 and 16 are preferably blunt or rounded as shown, and are adapted to be embedded in a railroad tie without cutting the fibers thereof. The ribs 15 and 16, being comparatively narrow, .may be readily embedded b-y one or two blows with a Sledge hammer,

whereby'the tie plate is initially held against shifting longitudinally of the tie.

The bottom face of the central or median portion of the tie plate, that is, the portion between the initial or primary bearing surfaces 13 and 14, is preferably arched so as to reduce the thickness of the plate from its maximum thickness at the respective primary bearing surfaces to a minimum thickness as indicated at 17 atan intermediate point in the length of the tie plate. The arched bottom surface may be a smooth or regular curved surface, but I prefer to provide the said arched bottom surface with a plurality of stepped, seconda or auxiliary tie bearing seats, such as in icated at 13 and 14. These secondary seats 13 and 14 are rogressively stepped upwardly and inwar ly towards the middle portion of the rail seat of the plate from the respective primary tie bearing seats 13 and 14 so as to provide oppositely facing -shoulders 13h and 14b which define the respective. ,secondary y seats. By preference, the seats 13 and 14 are inclined downwardly and inwardly so as to provide connecting shoulders 13b and 14b of increased depth as compared with the depth of such shoulders when the seats are disposed in substantially horizontal planes as shown in Fig. 5.

The bottoms of the respective end portions 18 and 19 may be treated in any desirable manner, but I prefer to incline the same upwardly and outwardly and to provide the same with stepped secondary tie bearing seats such as shown at 13 and 14. The secondary stepped tie bearing seats 13c and 14.

may be of the same general formation as those on the bottom face of the median portion of the plate,rbut the said end portion seats incline downwardly and outwardly with respect to the respective primary tiey bearing surfaces 13 and 14.

The end portions v18 and 19, if stepped.

down to the extent shown in Fig. 1 in the drawing, would probably be considered too thin and to lack suicient strength to prevent bending or breaking of the said end portions.` In order to overcome such objec` tion, the said end portions may be provided w'th a plurality of transversely spaced, longitudinally extending ribs 20 and 21vv which are formed integral with the tie plate. In this manner, there is an effective thickness equal to the combined .thickness of the stepped end portion and the rib, whereby the strength` of the said end portions is such.-

that the above mentioned objection is overcome. t The stepped and ribbed formation of the end portions of the plate vmay otherwise beV described as being recessed and stepped so as to-leave the projecting ribs 20 and 21.-

Asshown in Fig. 1, the steppedseats 13" and 14 are recessed from the x bottom faces of the ribs '2O and 21 so "that abrupt' shoulders 13d and 14l are formed joining *the respective primary seatsv 13 and n, 14 with the secondary seats 13 and 14n. YThe abrupt shoulders 13*i and' 14, and 'the shoulders which define the .respective seats, constitute, in effect, depending ribs extending transversely of the plate, which serve in cooperation with the depth of the ribs 15 and 16 to effectively hold the plate against longitudinal shifting when the plate has been' embedded in the tie. Itis -quite possible, as a practical matter, to provide a combined lshoulder 'and rib width equal to or greater than the width of the usual triangular or similarly shaped ribs provided on conventional tie plates. v Embedment of the longitudinally spaced Vshoulders is more readily accomplished than is embedment of a single continuous shoulder of a depth equal to the combined depth of `the spaced'shoulders, since less abruptdistortion of the fibers of the tie is required than is the case with the ribs found on conventional tie plates.

As a practical matter, railroads often lay rails directlyr on wood ties -without interposing a .tie plate -between the bottom of the rail and the tie. During use, the rail gradf ually cuts into the tie. This is objectionable, and if not stopped, soon cuts'such a' deep recess in the tie that the latter must be removed and discarded. In order to prevent such continued cutting into the tie, tie plates such as concerned in the present invention may be interposed between the rail and the tie, this being done in actual practice by first adzing or gouging out the top of the' tie so as to eliminate the rail-formed recess, the result being that an irregular or arcuate surface is leftv where the tie plate should be1 seated. In order that the tie plate will the better seat on such an arcuate surface, I prefer to4 provide the ends thereof. vwith the above described upwardly and outwardly inclined bottom.

portions which will approximately conform to the adjacent arched tie surface portions.

In Fig. 1, lI have shown a conditionrwhere- 'in the arched tie surface is indicated at 22,

the tie plate 'having its ribs 15 and .16 embedded in the' tie to prevent longitudinal shifting, the plate being also seated on the tie at its primary tie-bearing seats 13 and 14. In this instance, I have also shown the ends of the tie plate as beingseated on the tie as indicated at 23 and 24. The points lof engagement between the ends of the tie plate and tiefare obviously comparatively reduced areas at the bottom edges of the longitudinally extending ribs 20 and 21. Since these ribs extend lengthwise of the tie, that is, with thel grain thereof, it 'will be seen that embedment of the primary seats 13 and 14 will notv be materially hindered by the said points of engagement at the ends of the tie plate since the ribs 20 and 21 can be comparatively easily forced into the tie, it being a comparatively easy matter to separate the fibers of the tie as compared with distorting without cutting them, as done by the ribs 15 and 16 and primary tie-bearing seats 13\and 14.V

Hence, successive train loads passing over the supported rail portions.' will gradually embed the successive stepped seats inthe tie, whereby the shoulders which define the various stepped seats will become effective to hold ics the tie plate against shifting longitudinally. 7

Obviously, the end ribs 20 and 21 ,will serve to prevent transverse shifting, and, if desired, the median portionl of the plate may be providedwith transversely spaced, longitudinalextending ribs 25 which serve to reinforce l y'the said median portion.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a slightly modified form of construction wherein the tie plate, a portion of-which is indicated at 30, isl rovided with primary tie-bearing seats suc as i shown at 31 and initial-embedment ribs 32 substantially similar in their relative are rangement to the corresponding-parts shown in Fig. 1. In this modified form, secondary ytie-bearing seats indicated at 33 ,and 34 are provided, thesebeing substantially horizon'- `tally disposed, while at the same time being rogressively stepped upwardly, the seats 33 eing stepped upwardly and inwardly from the primary seat 31, and the secondary seats 34 being stepped upwardly and outwardly from the sald primary seat. Also, in this modification, I have shown the bottom of the end portion outside of the rib 32 and primary surface 31 as being formed without longitudinally extending ribs, the recessing ofthe steps l being omitted in this case so that there is a more gradual taper to the end of the tie plate, the thickness being thereby maintained greater than in the structure shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 6, I have `s'hownanother modilication wherein the bottoms of the ends of the plate are provided with stepped secondary seats which are inclined downwardly and outwardly as in the form shown in Fig. 1, but wherein there is no longitudinal recess of thel said bottoms or provision of longitudinally extending ribs. The desired thickness of the end portions is thus maintained throughout the width of the plate, this being desirable inthe opinion of some railroad executives.

yIn Fig. 6, I have also shown the bottomof the median .portion of the tie plate as being provided with a smooth arcuate surface 35 instead of a stepped arched surfaceas shown in Fig. 1. v

It will be seen that the tie plate structure in each of the forms shownl in Figs. 1, 5 and 6 is such that each is well adapted to being seated on a tie havingan arched seat such as described in connection with Fig. 1. Also, it will be understood that embedment of each of these forms of tie plate will begin at the initial embedment of the ribs followed by the primary seats and secondary seats, the embedment being radual as successive train loads force the tie plate into the tie. When all of the primary and secondary seats have been embedded so that the entire bottom surface of the plate is supported by direct contact with the tie, there will be no further appreciable embedment of the plate because of the large area of contact between the plate and tie. In the structure of Fig. 6, the arcuate median bottom surface 35 constitutes a secondary tie-engaging surface which is gradually embedded in a manner well linderstood by those skilled in the art, and that portion of the arcuate surface 35 immediately adjacent the inside face of the rib may =be considered a primary tie-bearing surface.

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated a further modilied construction for the end portions of the late, `the bottoms thereof, in this instance, eing provided with tie-bearing surfaces 36 whichi are joined by shoulders 37, the said tie-bearing surfaces 36 being in a stepped arrangement wherein the said surfaces or seats are inclined downwardly or outwardly towards the end of the plate and arranged with their outermost edges in a substantially horizontal plane. The median portion of the tie plate may be arched on its bottom as indicated at 38 or treated in any other desirable manner. This form of structure has the advantage of having ample shoulder area'to prevent longitudinal shifting of the tie plate while also being such that the end portions are more readily embedded in the tie than the ribs and primary seat portions such as indicated at 39 and '40 respectively.`

Tie plates embodying the above described forms of my invention are effectively locked against shifting longitudinally of the ties on which they `are seated, by embedment in the tie of a plurality of offset formations 'which are disposed above the vbottom plane of the primary tie-bearing seats and which formations extend transversely of the tie plates.

The step arrangement herein disclosed, es-

pecially that illustrated in Figures l and 7,.

may be described broadly as an arrangement of alternately disposed ridges and furrows ofthe tie is materially'prolonged. By reason of the longitudinal spacing of the offsets, the combined depth of all of the embedded offsets is distributed more or less-1- uniformly longitudinally of the tie plate area, so that cutting or breaking of the tie fibers is practically eliminated.

Preferably, the offsets are so arranged that their respective bottoms are offset vertically, as in the tie plate structures havingv upwardly inclined bottom portions (Figures 1, 5 and 6) whereby the offsets are successively orprogressively engageable with the tie and adapted to be embedded therein in different horizontal planes. The tie portions inter- 1 mediate adjacent offsets arranged in this mannei` are not likely to be chipped away as an incident to relative movement of the plate and tie under normal service conditions.

While the secondary engaging seating surfaces disclosed in Figures 1, 5 and 6 yare stepped, and perhaps the secondary seating surface of Figure 7 can not be accurately characterized as stepped, it will be noted, however, that each of the seating surfaces is sawtoothed with the shoulders of the toothedportion facing away from the adjacent primary seating surface.

In all of the above described forms, it will be understood that the shoulders and other surfaces joining relatively offset surfaces are rounded or blunt so that there will be no tiecutting action which is considered objectionable in that it weakens the tie and shortens its life.

The above described tie plate structures are highly desirable, in that the metal is distributed in such a way that maximum strength is retained where most needed, i. e., directly under and adjacent the edges of the base iiangesv of a rail -mounted on the tie plate. The arrangements disclosed .also serve to obtain said maximum strength while at the same time reducing the weight of the plate because of the novel arrangement of stepped seats, the

inclined seat arrangementbeing effective to save slightly more metal than is the case with the horizontal'stepped seat arrangement. By

y saving metal, the cost of the platescan be a same as broadly as possible consistent with the state of the art. I claim as my invention:

1. A tie plate having a primary tie-bearing seat on its bottom face, and a plurality of secondary, transversely extending stepped tie-bearing seats on the bottom of the end portions of the plate outside of said primary tie-bearing surface, said stepped seats being progressively stepped upwardly towards the ends of the plate, said primary and secondary stepped seats being adaptedto be successively seated on and embedded inthe tie as an incident to the passage of successive train loads over the rail portion supported by the tie plate, said stepped seats being defined by shoulders extending between adjacent seats, and said shoulders serving, when the seats are embedded in the tie, to hold the' plate against shifting longitudinally `of the tie.

2. A tie plate according to claim l, wherei in the stepped seats are inclined downwardly and outwardly, whereby the shoulders between the seats are increased in area soas to afford increased holding power to prevent longitudinal shifting of the tie plate relative to the tie. v

3. A tie plate having a pair of spaced, transversely extending primary tie-bearing seatson its bottom face and intermediate its length, and a plurality of secondary, stepped tie-bearing seats on the bottom ofthe end portions of the plate outside of said primary tie-bearing surfaces, said stepped seats being progressively stepped upwardly towards the ends of the plate, said primary and secondary stepped seats being adapted to be lsuccessively seated on and embeddedin the tie as an incident tothe passage ofsuccessive train loads over the rail portion supported by the tie plate, said stepped seats being defined by shoulders extending between adj acent seats,

and said shoulders serving, when'the seats.

are embedded in the tie, to hold the plate against shifting longitudinally of the tie.

4.' A tie plate having a pair of spaced, transversely extending primary tie-bearing seats on its bottom face and intermediate its length, and a plurality of secondary, stepped tie-bearing seats on the bottom of the end portions of the plate outside of said primary tie-bearing surfaces, said stepped seats being progressively stepped upwardly towardsthe ends of the plate whereby the thickness of said end portions is gradually reduced towards said ends', the bottom of the late portion intermediate said primary tie earing surfaces being arched longitudinally of the plate so as to reduce the thickness thereof intermediate said primaryT tie-bearing seats, said primary vand secondary stepped seats being adapted to be successively seated on and embedded in the tie as an incident to the passage of successive train loads over the rail portion supported by the tie plate, said seats being defined by shoulders extending between adjacent seats, and said shoulders serving,y

when the seats are embedded in the' tie, to prevent shifting of theplate longitudinally of the tie.

5. A tie plate having a pair of spaced, transversely extending primary tie-bearing surfaces on its bottom face and intermediate its length, ribs extending longitudinally of said primary seats, depending therefrom and adapted to be embedded in a tie to initially hold the tie plate .against shifting longitudinally of the tie, and a plurality of secondary, stepped tie-bearing seats on the bottom of the end portions of the plate outside of said primary tie-bearing surfaces, said stepped seats being progressively stepped upwardly towards the ends of the plate, said primary and secondarystepped seats being adapted to be successively seated on and embedded in the tie as an vincident tothe passage of successive 4 trainloads over the rail portion supported by the tie plate, said seats being defined by shoulders extending between adjacent seats, and said shoulders serving, when the seats are embedded in the tie, to prevent shifting of the plate. longitudinally of the tie.

6. A tie plate according to claim 5, wherein the stepped seats are inclined downwardly and outwardly, whereby vthe shoulders between the seats are increased in area so as to afford increased holding power to prevent longitudinal shifting of the tie plate relative,

seats on its bottom `face and intermediate' length, ribsextending longitudinally of and' ies depending from said primary seats-and adaptplurality of secondary stepped tiecaring seats onthe bottom of the tie plate on opposite sides of each of said primary tie-bearing surfaces, the steps on said end portions being progressively stepped upwardly towards the ends of the plate, and the steps on the plate bein progressively stepped upward y towar s the middle of said median portion, the longitudinal cross section of the tie plate being thereby, in effect, gradually tapered lfrom maximum thickness at said primary seats to minimum thickness at its opposite ends and intermediate said primary seats, said pri mary and secondary stepped seats being `,adapted to be successively seated on and embedded in a tie as an incident to the passage of successive trainloads over the railportion supported by the tie lplate, said stepped seats being Idefined by s oulders extending between adjacent seats, and said shoulders -f servin when the seats are embedded in the tie, to old the tie plate against longitudinal shifting movement.

9. A tie plate having a pair of spaced, transversely extending primary tie-bearing surfaces on its bottom face and intermediate its length, and a plurality of secondary, ste ped tie-bearing seats on the bottom of the I- en portions of the plate outside of said pri- .mary bein lprogresslvel wa s the ends o the plate whereb the thickness of said end portions is gra ually reduced towards said ends,

late portion intermediate said primary tieearing surfaces beingarched longitudinally of the plate so as to reduce the thickness thereof at a point 'intermediate said primary tie-bearing seats, one or more longitudinally extendin ribs depending from said arched intermedlate portion for "reinforcing the same, saidl primar and secondary stepped seats being adapted to be successively seated on and embedded in the tie as van incident to the passage ofl successive trainloads over the rail portion su ported by thetie plate, said seats being deiined by shoulders extending between adjacent seats, and said shoulders serving, when the seats are embedded in the tie, to

preventshifting of the plate longitudinal of the tie. v

. p 10. A tie plate having a air of spaced,v

transversely extending ribs ependin lfrom the bottom of said tie plate intermedlate its length, primary tie-bearing surface portions on the bottom of said plate adjacent said ribs, the bottom faces, as a whole, ofthe opposite end portions of the tie plate being inclined upwardly and outwardl said inclined bot# tom faces being provided with a pluralit of stepped, transversely extending, secon ary 'trainloads over the rail tie-bearing surfaces, said stepped seats stepped upwardly toy ly extending, longitu tie-bearing seats on its bottom face, said seats the bottom of the middle `between the seats tie-bearing seats defined by shoulders exl'tendsuccessively seated on and embedded in the tie as an incident'to the passage of successive trainloads over the rail the tie plate, said shoulders serving, when the'seats are embedded in the tie, to hold the tie plate against shifting longitudinally of the tie. n l1. A tie plate having a pair of spaced, transversely extending primary tie-bearing surfaces on its bottom face and intermediate its length, and a plurality of secondary stepped tie-bearing seats on the bottom of the end portions of the late outside of said primary tie-bearing surfeces, said primary andfsecondary stepped seats being adapted to be successively seated' on and embedded in the tie as an incident to the. passage of successive portion supported by the tieplate, said seats' being defined by shoulders extending between adjacent seats,-

and said shoulders serving, when the seats are embedded in the tie,to prevent shifting of the plate longitudinally of the tie, said end portions being also provided with a plurality of transversel spaced, longitudinally extending rib's spending from said stepped seats, said ribs serving to reinforce said end portion supported by portions and also constituting initial tiebearing surfaces at the ends of the plate serving to support said end ortions without materially hindering embe ment thereof.

l2. A tie plate havin a pair of transverse- (finally spaced initial being located intermediate the length of the plate, kthe bottoms of the end portion of the plate outside of said primary seats being inclinedupwardly and outwardly, and the median ortion of the arched) upwardly rality of stepped, secondary'seats,l said seats being progressively ,stepped upwardly from the respective primary seats towards the of said median portion, said seats being defined by shoulders extending' between ad] acentseats, which shoulders, when the re'-v spectiveseats are embedded in a tie, Serve to hold the tie plate vagainst longitudinal shifting relative to the tie. l

13. A tie plate according to claim vl2, wherein the stepped seats vare inclinedA downwardly and inwardly, whereby the shoulders are increased in area so as to afford increased holding power to prevent longitudinal shifting Aof the tie plate relative tothetie. v

14. A tie plate .according to claim 8, wherein the stpped seats onthe end portions are inclined ownwardly and outwardly, and the stepped seatsr on the 'median portion being inclined downwardly and inwardly, whereby the shoulders between the seats are increased plate being generally and provided with a plu'- izo in area so as to afford increased holding power to prevent longitudinal shifting of the tie plate relative to the tie.

15. A tie plate having its bottom provided with a primary tie-engaging part, an adjacent portion of said bottom being inclined upwardly from said primary tie-engaging part and providedwith an offset forming an area having a vertical depth, said offset be'- ing spaced longitudinally of the tie plate from said primary tie-engaging part and being adapted to be embedded in a tie for interlocking the tie plate with the tie to prevent shifting of the plate longitudinally of the tie.

16. A tie plate having its bottom provided with a pluralit of offsets forming areas having a vertical e th, said offsets being spaced longitudinally ofthe plate and being adapted to be embedded in a tie for interlocking the ing a vertical depth, said offsets being Aspaced plate with-the tie to prevent shifting move# ment of the'plate longitudinally of the tie,

said offsets being so arranged that the adja- -cent offsets will be embedded in the tie in ver-v tically offset zones.

17. A tie plate having its bottom provided with a' plurality of offsets forming areas havlongitudinally of the plate and being adapt ed to be embedded in a tie for interlocking the plate with the tie to revent shifting movement of thev plate longitudinally of the tie, the bottoms of said offsets being successively higher as their distances from said primary tie-engaging part increase.

18.'A tie plate having al transversely ex-` tending, narrow portion of maximum thick ness located in the zone of greatest normal stress on the plate, the bottom of the plate on one side of said narrow portion being recessed so as to gradually reduce the thickness of the plate as the distance from said narrow portion increases and so as to providea plurality of alternate ridges and furrows extending transversely ofthe plate.

1,9. A tie plate having a transversely extending, narrow portion of maximum thickness located in thezone of greatest normal stress on the plate, the bottom of the plate on one side of said narrow portion being recessedso as to gradually reduce the thickness of the plate as the distance from said narrow portion increases and so as to provide a plurality of alternate ridges and furrows extending transversely of the plate, said ridges being so positioned as to be successively engageable with a tie subsequent to initial embedment in the tie of the bottom portion of said narrowzone of maximum thickness.

20. A tie plate having a transversely extending, narrow ortion of maximum thickness located in t e zone ofgreatest normal said narrow .portion'increases and so as to ness located in thel zone of greatest normal stress on the plate,an adjacent portion of its bottom being provided with a plurality of alternately arranged rid es and furrows extending Vtransversely o the plate, spaced longitudinally thereof and disposed above the bottom plane of said transverselyv extending, narrow portion for interlocking the tie late with a supporting tie to prevent'longitu inal v i shifting of the plate relative to the tie.

' l22. Atie plate having its bottom provided with a primary tie engaging seating surface extending transversely across the pla-te, and a secondary tie engaging seating surface, said secondary seating surface having ,a series of depending shoulders' extending transversely of the plate and dividing the secondary seating surface into a series of tie engaging seat'v ing surfaces. v

23. A tie plate having its bottom provided with a primary tie yengaging seating surface extending transversely across the plate and secondary tie engaging seating surfaces disposed at opposite sides of the primary seating surface, each secondary seatin surface having a series of depending shou ders extending transversely of the plate and dividing the secondary seating surface into a series of tie engaging seating surfaces, the shoulders of the secondary seating surfaces facing in opposite directions respectively.

24. A tie plate having` its bottom provided With a primary tie engaging seating surface extending transversely across the plate, and a secondary tie engaging seating surface, said secondary seatingsurface being saw-toothed, each saw tooth extending transversely across the tie plate, and the shoulders of the saw-v toothed portions facing away from theprimary seating surface.-

25. A tie plate having its bottom provided with a primary tie engaging seating surface extending transversely across the plate, and secondary tie engaging seating surfaces disposed l'at opposite sides of the primaryseat-k ing surfaces, each secondary seating surface being saw-toothed with the teeth extending llO transverselyacross the plate in substantial j face,`the.shoulders' of the toothed portions of `the secondary seating surfaces facing in opposite directions respectivel 26. A tie plate having its bottom provided with a primary tie engaging seating surface extending transversely of the plate, and a secondary tie engaging seating surface, the said secondary seating surface being stepped upwardly and away from said primary seating surface.

5 27. A tie plate having its bottom provided with a primary tie engaging seating surface extending transversely of the plate, and sec- Ondary tie engaging seating surfaces at 0pposite sides of the primar seating surface, m each secondary seatn -sur ace being stepped npwardly and away rom the primary seatmg surface. e

WILLIAM S. BOYCE. 

